Overcoming Obstacles That Hold You Back

Identifying obstacles that hold you back takes time but it’s worth every moment. These tricky obstacles get you to agree while they slowly erode your plans and your Marketplace Ministry. It doesn’t matter if your problem is money, people or your own thoughts, it’s takes commitment and focus to overcome obstacles and move forward.

Obstacles often hide is by pretending to be normal, friendly and innocent. You think it means nothing so you ignore what you see. The obstacle chips away your momentum, delays your progress and stifles your growth.

The way they hold you back is by pretending to be with you – making you think something is OK. You agree and ignore when a much stronger response is needed. Other obstacles that hold your back come in the form of lack of knowledge – you agree to something that seems good, but later find that there is a hook in the meat and you are the fish who took the bait.

It also comes as spiritual warfare. Yes, when you set out to honor God with your money and your business, you attract spiritual warfare.

It even comes in the form of good advice – 

• “I  think you should change your business.”
• “I think you should work with different people.”
• “I think you should remove something.”  

It happens when you question yourself and entertain people and conversations that you should avoid.  You consider ideas from others that do not match your goals. You allow other people and concepts to get in your way, slow you down, and distract you from your goal.   

It also happens when you are not familiar with the next level that you are pursuing. Your old thinking and old habits are more comfortable, so you make decisions that hinder your growth because familiarity feels more comfortable. In this case familiarity is your enemy. A good way to identify this self sabotage is to place yourself in new environments where people live and think differently from you and observe and learn a different approach.                                                    

No matter how the problems appears, these hidden obstacles are only effective when you give them time and energy.

How do you overcome these hidden obstacles?

Get out of agreement. Move away. Reframe and redirect.

No matter what tries to stop you, gather your 100% – sold out commitment that YOU WILL GET IT DONE and the assurance that God is with you. Yes, God cares about your business.

In order to overcome the obstacles to your Marketplace Ministry you have to know for SURE the direction that you are moving and turn away from everything else (unless God is redirecting you). Don’t listen, research, or think about it. Just move away. Then commit to learning and growing, but never quitting! Don’t put deadlines on God.

If advice and offers are not aligned with the direction that you believe God is leading you, stay away. Everything that leads you somewhere other than where you are going is not good for you. To overcome these hinderances, get used to saying, “No.” 

Here are a few more ways to overcome the hidden obstacles.

• Take a strong stand against destructive gossip.
• Pray for God to reveal any deceit.
• Pray before you hire or partner with anyone.
• Spend many hours in prayer, fasting, and meditating about your direction, then work to stay aligned with how you believe God is leading you.
• Don’t talk too much to the wrong people. You give them ammunition when you tell too much.
• Pay attention to those “little feelings” you get about people. Take some time to see if the Holy Spirit is giving you a warning to be careful or stay away all together.
• Stay in alignment with the Scriptures and the direction that God gives you.

Matthew 7:6 says –  “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

Good advice from the right person is priceless and hard to find. Bad advice from the wrong person is cheap and easy to find. Look for hidden obstacles and deal with them quickly. If you think you don’t have any obstacles, look again. They are great at staying hidden until the damage is done. The sooner you recognize and deal with a problem, the better.

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